*One of the bad things about having a huge hit record is that some folks think you’re their ticket to getting over … on you!

Case in point is Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell. With their humongous hit “Blurred Lines” being the biggest hit of the summer, they’ve attracted the attention of Marvin Gaye’s family and Bridgeport Music, which owns some of Funkadelic’s compositions. Apparently the Gaye family and Bridgeport Music think they’re entitled to “Blurred Lines” motherlode

However, in order to shield “Blurred Lines” from possible litigation, the creators/performers of the massive hit are being proactive have gone to court. A lawsuit was filed Thursday in a California federal court by the trio against Gaye’s family and Bridgeport Music.

The suit, says The Hollywood Reporter, claims the Gaye family is alleging that “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” “feel” or “sound” the same, and that the “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.

According to the suit, a copy of which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, “Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists. Defendants continue to insist that plaintiffs’ massively successful composition, ‘Blurred Lines,’ copies ‘their’ compositions.”

The suit claims the Gaye family is alleging that “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” “feel” or “sound” the same, and that the “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.”

As for Funkadelic, there’s said to be claimed similarity between Thicke’s hit and Funakedlic’s “Sexy Ways.”

“But there are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” states the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition.”

And quite frankly we agree.

If you listen to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it UP” and Thicke’s “Blurred Lines (both below), it’s hard to say the songs sound alike.

Yeah, “Blurred Lines” kinda, sorta reminds you of the era and vibe of “Give it Up,” but that’s about it.

48 Responses

I like ur post,people tend to place emotion in front of their eyes, if they knew anything about musical notes they would hear and see that these two songs are different, maybe a (c) note similarity but how close can one come to a copyright infringement?, as close as they please! as long as they don’t cross that line. this song came no where close to that line.
ps. how does one copyright a genre on music??? marvin marvin!!! sound so stupid

It is obviously the exact same base line…only sped up slightly on the Blurred Lines version, with different vocals inserted. “Got to Give it Up” was a huge club hit when I was in college, and the second I heard Blurred Lines, I said to my husband, “those guys have sampled Marvin Gaye”. If today’s listeners have never heard “Got to Give It Up” or (in some cases, sadly) have never heard of Marvin Gaye, I am sure they think Blurred Lines is totally original. To many of us, it sounds as similar to “Got To Give It Up” as Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” did to Queen and Bowie’s “Under Pressure”.

straight robbery. when i first heard the song I said it was a Marvin rip off. I give kudos to Robin for his hit but it sounds just like Marvin. If you sample something you need to pay. It’s funny how people turned on Michael Bolton when he started doing covers of R&B records. Now Its ok to out right steel an Idea and call it a “feels like” song.

Okay a SLIGHT adjustment to the beat was made. Probably to just skirt the particulars and details of copyright law. Fine. But the spirit and feel of Marvin’s work was definitely stolen. By that logic I can steal Coca-Cola’s logo change the color from red to yellow and say it is my original work. Just another example of whites profiting off of black culture and keeping all the money. A shame T.I. and Pharrell let themselves be used as pawns in this okie doke.

Now ain’t THiS a “B”!?? The WB rips “Us”/Marvin off, & HE wants…”protection”!!??? SMDH! Now…..as “some” have already stated, it is NOT the same anything. The is a big difference, between “hella influenced by &….”sampling”! The reference to “Ghistbesters” doesn’t apply, b/c in that case, it was a matter of “more than sounds similar” & it was waaaay b4 “sampling”! A better comparison for “that” case?, would be “Good Times” by Chic vs. Bounce Rock Skate/Anogher One Bites Ghe Dust etc!!!, you diiiiig?? But in this case?, we are talking about ” “influence”,. And even though the influence is HELLA strong?, nothing was actually “copied” except the “feel/vibe” & instrumentation. And…..it is a TRIP just how close you can come/get to a prior song, & NOT be guilty of actually “ripping the song off”! SSMH! But gain no actual “stealing” was done here. It would be like someone claiming ownership over….”chords”….cain’t do it maaaayn!! But…We shouuuuuuld protect “Our shyt” more, when We know the “other flava” is…..”eating off “Our” plates!!! Chuuuuuuch!

Yup! What Robin Thicke “produced” along with Pharrell is a complete bite. From the ambient “partiers” in the background of the song to the structure of the baseline. I literally could not understand the brouhaha when I heard the song. I was like that’s Got to Give It Up “updated” with a white front man and two rappers. Of course Thicke should show MG’s estate tha money.

However songs that have a certain vibe that evokes other songs: MIGUEL’S “Adorn” is a great of example of music “inspired” by Prince’s vast catalog, specifically “Adore” at least to me – however there was no biting chord for chord, melodic structure etc. Another great example is
BRUNO MARS’ “Treasure” which reminds me of something Kool & the Gang or the Whispers made in the 80s. JT’S “Take Back the Night” which is inspired by Michael’s Living Off the Wall and few Jacksons tunes.

None of these artists straight bit, they creatively used elements of beats and rhythms that are inspired by classic R&B when it was great music. An amalgamation of particular hit songs to construct a vibe.

I’m shocked about this one. He DEFINITELY sampled Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up. I just now heard about this on Tom Joyner this morning and Tom just said that Robin has sampled Marvin before and he has with Marvin’s song “Trouble Man”. Umm…only time will tell if Robin will stay black or go back to being white now that he’s got his first crossover hit. And about the earlier comment Cee Cee said about Vanilla Ice paying Queen/David Bowie, yeah he paid them alright after they sued him because Ice didn’t ask for permission to use their song.

I like ur post,people tend to place emotion in front of their eyes, if they knew anything about musical notes they would hear and see that these two songs are different, maybe a (c) note similarity but how close can one come to a copyright infringement?, as close as they please! as long as they don’t cross that line. this song came no where close to that line.
ps. how does one copyright a genre on music??? marvin marvin!!! sound so stupid

TO Are Y’all Serious I ask can you read,blaming just Pharrell Are you dumb or you can’t comprehend what you read? I will help you. Re-read these sentences from the article then have a seat. Keywords creators/performers AND TRIO,that means 3, son.

However, in order to shield “Blurred Lines” from possible litigation, the creators/performers of the massive hit are being proactive have gone to court. A lawsuit was filed Thursday in a California federal court by the trio against Gaye’s family and Bridgeport Music.

Either way…the Gaye’s are BROKE!! Nona is gettin high and Jan, the ex wife is talking –ish all over the place about nobody giving her nothin when MG was killed. Get a damn job, lady…MG been gone for 30 years! As for the similarities in song: yep, I thought the same thing when I first heard Blurred Lines…and I also heard Pharrell all over this joint because he produced it. Im for the “protecting” yourself theory. Nobody stole nothing from MG. SMMFH!!

Not a follower of this dude,but I heard the song in a commercial for I believe Kentucky Fried Chicken and immediately I knew it was a rip off of Got To Give It Up.

To the people who say it isn’t,how old are you 20-30,you aren’t familiar with the song obviously and could even be related to the thieves who jacked this song.AND YOU NEED TO CHECK YOUR HEARING!

Too many Black people are so quick to give white people a pass(JUSTINE TIMBERFAKE and now this dude,BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS SHOW THEIR TRUE WHITE COLORS.JUST BE PATIENT AND IT WILL HAPPEN), need to kill the slave mentality you have,you will NEVER LEARN. As they continue to steal from you and take your money. As it is said those that don’t know their history will continue to get exploited.

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And to KJAMM so what if what you say is true,it doesn’t mean they should be ripped off.

You are lame to put the ALLEGED family business out there like that,it has absolutely nothing to do with the thievery of that song,but you sound like an angry fool.

Here’s just one reason why, you EVEN WROTE you hear the similarities but then you say they didn’t steal.Sounds like you are high off something,shit you may know so much about the ALLEGED drugs because you are getting high with them or WORSE supplying them

.Pharrel is a biter as are a lot of these cats around,nothing new to people who were around to hear the original versions of their blatant rip offs

But it takes a lot of nerve to steal from someone and then try to legally protect yourself.White arrogance (superiority mentality)reigns.And there will always be nwords to protect them.And you KJAMM are the recipient of the award for this case.

The first time I ever heard Blurred Lines the FIRST thing I thought was “Got to Give It Up”. I love both songs and the fact that BL sounds so much like [email protected] is one of the main reasons I love it. I thought that Thicke made it in a way as a tribute of some kind to Marvin since he routinely touts Gaye as one of his major musical influences — and it shows in his vocals. Does this translate to a cash pay-out for Gaye’s family? I leave the legalities to the judges and the lawyers but to say the songs don’t sound alike, well c’mon now — be serious.

Here is Robin Thicke in his own words from Wikipedia on the creation of “Blurred Lines.” “”Blurred Lines” was produced by Thicke and Williams with an intention of creating a sound similar to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up”. The song was completed in less than an hour.[7] In an interview with GQ’s Stelios Phili, Thicke explained: “Pharrell and I were in the studio and […] I was like, ‘Damn, we should make something like that [“Got to Give It Up”], something with that groove.’ Then he started playing a little something and we literally wrote the song in about half an hour and recorded it. Him and I would go back and forth where I’d sing a line and he’d be like, ‘Hey, hey, hey!’ We started acting like we were two old men on a porch hollering at girls like, ‘Hey, where you going, girl? Come over here!'”[8] In a separate interview, Thicke clarified the meaning of the song’s title, saying it referred to “the good-girl/bad-girl thing and what’s appropriate.” Now for my take on it, “Blurred Lines” immediately made me think of Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up.” In fact, I cannot hear “Blurred Lines” without having Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” play in my head. I hear so many mash-ups (both songs mixed together) of both songs that I cannot tell either apart rhythmically. All of my DJ friends mix Marvin Gaye’s song in with “Blurred Lines” to create the real Soul Train line. Nick Canon was on Howard Stern’s radio show and both of them talked about how “Blurred Lines” sounds like Marvin Gaye’s song. Also, in EVERY interview Robin Thicke does, the interviewer asks him about him about how similar both songs are. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Settle now with the Marvin Gaye family before the song gets yanked off radio and online and in stores. The songs are similar enough in my book. Perhaps Robin wrote something different, but Pharrell certainly borrowed a lot from Marvin Gaye. Stop this madness already.

Ok people…obviously?, people are NOT aware of what “sampling” is. Sampling is?, taking a “pre-recorded”track, & placing it on your track as ghosting or flat out “BEING” the foundation OF..your track! While…”copying the style”?, is not against the law, sampling without ownership or permission….IS against the law. Now “me”?, I HATE a writer who is a….”biter”!! But again…”that” may be fkd up?, but it’s NOT sampling nor….against the law. There it izz, Liz. Deuces!

@Heels…..naaaaaaw “you’re” just WRONG & in denial of the facts. And it is just a song, correctimuuuundo “‘on dat”! But puuuuLEEZE don’t get it twisted!!! The denial is quite hilaaaaaarious & I still…..”sleep like a baby” at night! Bling!

Genre is a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like. Genre composes things like the genre of epic poetry or the genre of R&B music. Robin Thicke, TI, and Phareaa definitely step all over the genre that Marvin created way back when there were only a few styles of music with “Blurred Lines.” There was blues, R&B, country, rock, beach, swing and then Marvin brought out a form of R&B that had swag to it…something you could dance to, but also had a sexy groove to it! Robin and crew did a great job of switching it up, but the idea and musical baseline definitely came from “Got to Give It Up.”

Should be interesting. You never know how these cases will go. I remember years ago when The Emotions sued Mariah Carey over her song “Emotional”. The music sounds just like “The Best of My Love”. Hell, I thought the song was a tribute to the Emotions given the name, but Mariah said there was no connection and won if I remember correctly. I think she even admitted that she may have been unconsciously influence my their music.

They do NOT sound a like.. only thing I hear that might even sound like it is yep that guy keeps saying yeah through the whole song.. Quit Blaming WF for everything.. geezz get a life..people are so sue happy anymore.. that’s what’s wrong with this country.. go get a real f’in job!!

@nylaconnect….Don’t know if you were referring to “me”?, buuuuut juuuuusta clarify where “I’m” coming from….”I” know GD WELL this song is a HELLA rip off of MG’s “GTGIU”, ok!!?? Matter of fact?….I initially would change the station quicker than a blink, when it 1st jumped off!!! (& I mean with the QUICKness!!!) But…as anything done in such repetition????….it’s grown ‘on meh, can’t deny. But the question was….”is this a “SAMPLE” not….”rip off”! Sampling is stealing the EXACT recording, “ripping off”?, is stealing another’s….style, vibe, steelo, etc….! It would be the difference in…a chick “dressing LIKE you?, vs….actually BUYING THE SAME dress!!, you diiiiiiig!!?? Now….I ain’t old, nor am I a new jack..I’m in the middle (no pun, Wink!) 🙂 But again….a “Marlee Matlin” person could “hear” that this joint is stealing the SHYT outta MG’s….”style”!!!, not ghosting his actual tracks ie….”sampling”. Now….I am 100% witchew ‘on how We always give WP passes & ALLOW them to steal Our shyt, even “HELP them DO it” ie…Pharrel, Timba etc….!, & that shyt fks wit me, a lil, no a LOT!!!!! Like….We the ONLY chefs showing OTHER chefs our…”recipes”! STUpid ish!! We g’on f around & look in a damn history book, in a few years?, & see BOTH of these thievin, wanna be, “nuetra sweet Black men” J. TimberFAKE AND R. “THIN” up in an almanac as…”the premier soul singers of this time”!, watch!!! JUST like they stole…Jazz, & now call it….”Smooth Jazz”, da fk is THAT shyt…..”watered down instrumental R&B” “THAT’S” WTH it is!!!! But…..I digress! Sigh! SSMDH! But aaaaaanyway, just had to “clear dat ish up”, yuh hurrrrd!?? :-))!

When I initially heard Blurred Lines I thought it was Prince. Therefore, not only should Robin pay homage and money to the legendary Marvin Gaye’s family, but the living legend Prince as well. Please do the right thing and pay up.

Definitely has the feel of give it up. I could even sing the give it up lyrics to the rhythm in the beginning of this song. Thicke updated MG’s sound and it sounds good. Not sure there’s a lawsuit here, tho.

Ok. The song is definately not sampled. They didn’t use the pre-recorded version of the lyrics or melody of “Got to Give It up” and place it in the new work (Blurred Lines) but copyright infringement does occur if someone creates a “derivative work” of someone’s song (lyrics and/or melody). There will be certain factors that the court (if it gets that far) will look at to determine if it was copied. IT will probably get settled out of court in someone’s favor. I personally think though that certain elements of “Got to Give it Up” are incorporated into “Blurred Lines” to possibly render it a copy of the Marvin Gaye tune. The similar situation that comes to my mind is the Michael Bolton, Isley Brothers case.

If you’re really interested and want to read an intelligent assessment of this Thicke/Gaye situation, please read Nicolas Payton’s blog…It goes WAY deeper than the comments on this page. You writers at EUR might want to educate yourselves as well.. http://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/

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